My father-in law is an engineering executive for a large commercial builder. We were shooting the shit last week-end and some how the asbestos issue came up. He said, asbestos has been a big issue but he said that the issue of mold and air-borne spores in buildings is going to make the asbestos liability pale in comparison. At least with asbestos the dangers and liability spots can be fairly readily identified, but mold is everywhere. It's the whole "sick building syndrome". The way structures have been built over the past 2 decades, becoming increasingly air tight and energy efficient, creates a breeding ground for all kinds of air bourne ailments. And the problem is even worse in older buildings where they have had moisture issues. When the legal pariahs get a hold of this one look out! Don't no yet how exactly you would play this one but it is coming and it's sure to have major ramifications. MACD:eek:
It will affect the insurance companies ( they will need to foot the bill for change)...I dont think they can go after the builders or the suppliers since it wasnt something they produced ...but hey I have no idea....I know my friend is a independent adjuster and he milks the insurance companies dry for just a tiny spot of mold in a house........peace
You got that right. I'm an appraiser and mold is the biggy in litigation. It hasn't been bad in my area...yet. But in Texas and Florida its a real problem. The large insurance co's are so afraid of this problem that they have a national data base of affected properties. If a house has a paid claim for mold, in most cases you can not get insurance...at any price. Lenders are scared to death of this also. I did one house last month that a evidence of mold around an HVAC vent and the lender mandated an inspection by a professional home inspector. Do a search on Google.com for "mold" if you want an eye opener. P.S. Another area I think you will see increasing litigation is lead based paint. This is similar to asbestos in that a lot of co's that never made lead based paint could be held liable because of acquisitions of other co's that did.
I have an ozone generator on the boat.....kills all the mold and diesel smell too.....maybe sales on those things will increase.....my dad has one in his AC ducts in GA.
I don't know where all the litigation will end but there is no question that America is in a death spiral with litigation induced inflation. I think that the impact of the ever increasing civil litigation in the United States, and all of North America for that matter has to be seriously studied. In fact it may require some serious regulation, it's not just simple insurance fraud and ridiculous "slip and fall" claims anymore. The cost to business, and hence society as a whole, to insulate ourselves from liability has become huge. This needs to be looked at as part of national economic policy in my opinion. My father in-law was working in Southern Cal. a few years ago on some major projects and he said things in Calif are ludicrous. He said that the engineering aspect of his job was virtually nill, instead he and the other execs spent most of their time in bullshit meetings with lawyers. Where will it end! MACD